# Bad news from Choctaw Ridge (Billie Joe McCallister Day) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 3, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403 "2016-06-03T17:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403/41 "2016-06-05T04:55:32Z")
Those strings were almost a second narrator/Greek chorus. That slow build-up at the end–there’s a lovely major interval morphing into a BIG dissonance–gives me the shivers every time. Bravo, Mr. Haskell. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403/42 "2016-06-05T04:59:16Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The strings were awesome, but weren’t they added to Gentry’s awesome demo? I don’t know about that, but I doubt it. > [@dropzone](#): > > FTR: I do not consider “sweetening” to be more than making a single easier to market. Different strokes, etc. Some musicians would not agree with you. Haskell can be credited [with](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Billie_Joe) > [@](#): > > …[the] long descending scale by the strings at the conclusion, suggesting the flowers falling after being dropped off the Tallahatchie Bridge and ending up in the river water below. Although I have no inside info as to who invented that particular musical filigree, I would consider it likely that Haskell did it on his own, as it reminds me of other passages he wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403/43 "2016-06-05T05:14:52Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Those strings were almost a second narrator/Greek chorus. That slow build-up at the end–there’s a lovely major interval morphing into a BIG dissonance–gives me the shivers every time. Bravo, Mr. Haskell. Right on. Notice how he uses low strings alone sometimes, solo lines sometimes, ensemble lines sometimes, and – important – he knows when NOT to insert strings over the guitar line. Not every measure needs to be sweetened with sleek string slosh, which many chart writers often do. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403/44 "2016-06-05T11:02:46Z")
I read on wiki that the original song was over 5 minutes and they cut it down. Can anyone point me to where I can hear the full version? ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403/45 "2016-06-05T19:41:11Z")
As I recall, in one of the other threads someone said the original hand written version is in a collection of Gentry’s papers at some university. And those papers would be available to be “checked out” by anybody geographically coincident. Oh, and I’m guessing there would be some academic qualification needed too. I didn’t make serious note since it wasn’t near me. But I too would love to see the ‘long version’ if/when any Doper troubles to ferret it out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-from-choctaw-ridge-billie-joe-mccallister-day/756403.md?page=2)